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If you spent any time browsing social media on Wednesday, there’s a very good chance you’ve come across a number of posts referencing International Women’s Day.
If you’re somehow having trouble putting two and two together, that annual “holiday” falls on March 8th, which the organization behind the occasion says is reserved for “celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.”
Plenty of companies and organizations use International Women’s Day as an excuse to highlight the contributions and achievements of their female employees—including a number of NFL teams who went out of their way to throw up some content doing exactly that.
That includes the Cleveland Browns, who opted to commemorate the occasion with a tweet featuring a number of pictures of “the incredible leaders that power our organization.”
While it was certainly a nice gesture, it was also one that rang a bit hollow when you consider the Browns are the same franchise that opted to sign Deshaun Watson to a five-year, $230 million contract in spite of the fact that dozens of women came forward to accuse the quarterback of sexual assault and misconduct.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam understandably caught an unreal amount of heat for that decision and didn’t do himself many favors thanks to the manner in which he attempted to justify the move.
The team’s public relations department subsequently found itself in a fairly unenviable position, but its handling of the situation has also left plenty to be desired.
As a result, the best thing the franchise could’ve done to celebrate International Women’s Day is probably nothing at all. Unfortunately, it decided to post a tweet that generated the reactions you’d expect.
Your quarterback has more sexual assault allegations than the browns have wins the past 3 seasons
— dfladd (@dfladd_5) March 8, 2023
You should celebrate women by not employing sexual predators. That’s step 1!
— SomewhatDisgruntled (@_cant_stand_ya) March 8, 2023
Sorry to the Cleveland Browns interns, because I know that you were forced to post this. But my God what a tone deaf post
— Matt Plowman (@themattplowman) March 8, 2023
It’s okay folks, the Browns PR talked with their wives first.
— Ping Lin 🍎🗽🧢🐪 (@PingLin6) March 8, 2023
I’m not sure what they expected, but they definitely got what they deserved.